The Cake Mix Doctor is in! And the prescription is simple: By doctoring up packaged cake mix with just the right extras--a touch of sweet butter here, cocoa powder there, or poppy seeds, vanilla yogurt, sherry, eggs, and grated lemon zest for the Charleston Poppy Seed Cake--even the least experienced baker can turn out luscious signature desserts, time after time. The proof is in the taste, and the taste never stops--from Toasted Coconut Sour Cream Cake to Devilishly Good Chocolate Cake; from a to-die-for Caramel Cake and a Holiday Yule Log to cheesecakes, coffee cakes, sheet cakes, pound cakes, bars, brownies, and those all-important frostings, here are 175 fast, foolproof recipes that will transform the art of home baking in America.

Who could believe these cakes came out of a box? Moist, tender, rich, deep, and complexly flavored, without a hint of artificiality, each cake stand up and delivers. But without any of the fuss of baking from scratch. Anne Byrn, an award-wining food writer and self-described purist, creates recipes that employ a cake mix's strengths---convenience, ease-of-use, dependability, and almost imperviousness to overbeating, underbeating, overbaking, and underbaking.

In addition to the recipes are the Cake Mix Doctor's QandA's, extensive "Doctor Says" tips, lists--15 Beautiful Birthday Cakes, 15 Cakes That Will Cash in at a Bake Sale--and more, all illustrated in a full-color photographic insert.

WHO COULD BELIEVE THESE CAKES EVER CAME OUT OF A BOX?

By enhancing packaged cake mix with just the right additions, even the least confident baker can turn out signature desserts. From Devilishly Good Chocolate Cake to a to-die-for Caramel Cake to coffee cakes, sheet cakes, bars, brownies, and frostings, here are 175 fast, foolproof recipes that marry the convenience, ease, and dependability of commercial cake mixes with a dash of creativity, a spoonful of richness, and a cup of pure inspiration.

From the Doctor's Pantry

FLAVOR BOOSTERS — Lemon zest, nuts, coffee, poppy seeds, grated coconut, unsweetened cocoa powder, peppermint schnapps, fresh strawberries

MAKING IT RICHER — Buttermilk, whipping cream, sour cream, eggs, yogurt, butter, peach puree

OFFSETTING THE CAKE MIX TASTE — Dry sherry, lime zest, pure almond extract

Anne Byrn is a food journalist and bestselling cookbook author. She makes frequent appearances on Good Morning America and QVC, and her new column, â€�“The Dinner Doctor,” is running in 35 newspapers with the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. Ms. Byrn lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and three children.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Doctoring Cake Mixes

Cake Mix 101

How to Use This Book

Chocolate Cakes

Cakes with Fruit

Strike It Rich Cakes

Cake-Mix Classics

Special Occasion Cakes

Cheesecakes and Gooey Cakes

Coffee Cakes

Cakes with Spirit

Incredible Bars and Comforting Cookies

This Can't Contain Cake Mix

Lighter Cakes

Just the Basics

Frostings, Glazes, and One Compote

Conversion Table

Bibliography

Index